A sycee (; from Cantonese , , ) or yuanbao () was a type of gold and silver ingot currency used in imperial China from its founding under the Qin dynasty until the fall of the Qing in the 20th century. Sycee were not made by a central bank or mint but by individual goldsmiths or silversmiths for local exchange; consequently, the shape and amount of extra detail on each ingot were highly variable. Square and oval shapes were common, but boat, flower, tortoise and others are known. Their value—like the value of the various silver coins and little pieces of silver in circulation at the end of the Qing dynasty—was determined by experienced moneyhandlers, who estimated the appropriate discount based on the purity of the silver and evaluated the weight in taels and the progressive decimal subdivisions of the tael (mace, candareen, and cash). In present-day China, gold sycees remain a symbol of wealth and prosperity and are commonly depicted during the Chinese New Year festivities. Paper imitations of gold- or silver-colored paper are burned along with hell money as a part of Chinese ancestral veneration for Tomb Sweeping Day and the Ghost Festival. Name The name "sycee" is an irregular romanization of the Cantonese pronunciation of the characters for "fine silk". This is variously explained as deriving from the ability to draw pure gold or silver out into fine threads or from the silky sheen of quality silver. The name "yuanbao" is the pinyin romanization of the Mandarin pronunciation of the characters for "inaugural treasures". Under China's Tang dynasty, coins were inscribed Kai tong (, "Circulating Treasure of the Beginning of an Era"), later abbreviated to yuanbao. The name was also applied to other non-coin forms of currency. Yuanbao was spelt yamboo and yambu in the 19th-century English-language literature on Xinjiang and the trade between Xinjiang and British India. A yuanbao was also called a () or "silver " (). History Sycees were first used as a medium for exchange as early as the Qin dynasty (3rd century BC). During the Western Han dynasty (206 BC – 9 AD), the Wu Zhu bronze coins became the main currency in circulation, while hoof-shaped gold ingot known as "Horse Hoof Gold" () served as an adjunct currency for high-value transactions. During the Tang dynasty, a standard bi-metallic system of silver and copper coinage was codified with 10 silver coins equal